Media outlets access enhanced multi-platform content at no charge, with alerts when we have new content on issues or from regions you may select. Once we receive the filled out form below, you'll receive a message with the passcode/s. Welcome!

*These fields are required

*Media Outlet name

*Media Outlet City/State

Contact name

Contact phone

*Email address or fax #

*Media Outlet type

Additional (beyond the state you are located in) content that you would like to receive

Newscasts

PNS Daily Newscast - February 22, 2018

President Trump holds a listening session at the White House as the demand for action to curb gun violence spreads across the nation; also on today's rundown; an Arizona ballot initiative would require 50 percent renewable energy by the year 2030; and a new report find local democracy is being "run-over" by Lyft and Uber.

Daily Newscasts

Health Care Group Slams Trump's "Skinny" Insurance Plans

Utah Gets Failing Grade for Reproductive Health Care

Prison Birth Sparks Calls for CT Legislation

Idaho Bill Would Prevent Domestic Abusers From Having Guns

School Shooting Survivors Demand Stricter Gun Control at FL Capitol

2018 NC Child Report Card Shows Mixed Bag for Kids

Opponents Warn Offshore-Drilling Announcement is Sign of What's to Come

Uphill Battle for TN Health-Care Navigators to Sign People Up

Health-care navigators in Tennessee report having trouble convincing people to sign up for the Health Care Exchange. (Hamza Butt/flickr)

August 28, 2017

NASHVILLE, Tenn. -- More than 260,000 people purchased private health care plans through the Health Care Exchange in Tennessee, but navigators report an uphill battle this year because people feel uncertain about the future of the Affordable Care Act.

Mary Moore is program coordinator with Get Covered Tennessee and is a health care navigator. She's been telling people she encounters it's better to have coverage, regardless of whether the ACA is short-lived.

"It is a contract when you sign up for a plan between you and the insurer,” Moore said. "It's more important than ever to make sure you do have coverage so that if and when anything does change, you know that you've had continuous coverage."

There have been reports that the federal government won't run any ads to promote enrollment this year, unlike in years past under the Obama administration.

The open enrollment period is also shortened this year, from November 1 through December 15.

Moore said she knows it can be discouraging as large insurers pull out of Tennessee cities, but there remain people who don't have another way to secure health coverage.

"It's very important for those people to still be able to buy affordable, individual coverage that again is not going to penalize them for having a pre-existing condition,” she said.

Earlier this year, the government ended funding to 18 cities intended to help people sign up for coverage, though none of them were in Tennessee.